“…a powerful novel about the power of novels, but there is nothing outsize or metatextual about it, no cloying literary in-jokes or philosophical digressions: The Storied Life of A.J.

Goodreads Choice Award Finalist (Fiction).

Selection of BBC Radio 4 Books at Bedtime.

International Dublin Literary Award Longlist.Southern California Independent Booksellers Award for Fiction.Booksellers Prize in the Category of Foreign Fiction (Japan).

#1 Library Reads Pick, and Library Reads Favorite of Favorites for 2014.New York Times, LA Times, USA Today, and National Indie Bestseller.Fikry is an unforgettable tale of transformation and second chances, an irresistible affirmation of why we read, and why we love. As surprising as it is moving, The Storied Life of A. or for that determined sales rep, Amelia, to see her curmudgeonly client in a new light or for the wisdom of all those books to become again the lifeblood of A.J.’s world or for everything to twist again into a version of his life that he didn’t see coming. It doesn’t take long for the locals to notice the change overcoming A.J.

Fikry the opportunity to make his life over, the ability to see everything anew. It’s that unexpected arrival that gives A. It’s a small package, but large in weight. can only see them as a sign of a world that is changing too rapidly.Īnd then a mysterious package appears at the bookstore. Even the books in his store have stopped holding pleasure for him. Slowly but surely, he is isolating himself from all the people of Alice Island-from Lambiase, the well-intentioned police officer who’s always felt kindly toward Fikry from Ismay, his sister-in-law who is hell-bent on saving him from his dreary self from Amelia, the lovely and idealistic (if eccentric) Knightley Press sales rep who keeps on taking the ferry over to Alice Island, refusing to be deterred by A.J.’s bad attitude. His wife has died, his bookstore is experiencing the worst sales in its history, and now his prized possession, a rare collection of Poe poems, has been stolen. Fikry’s life is not at all what he expected it to be. Fikry, the irascible owner, is about to discover just what that truly means.Ī. On the faded Island Books sign hanging over the porch of the Victorian cottage is the motto “No Man Is an Island Every Book Is a World.” A.

The storied life of aj fikry novel